During the hot summer months, energy bills can spike up – and tempers with them. Increasing your home’s energy efficiency is one way to keep the heat from impacting your family and your wallet.

When most people think of how to increase the efficiency of their home, their first thought may have to do with LED light bulbs or energy-efficient appliances. But there’s a lot you can do to improve the efficiency of your HVAC system as well. When it comes to HVAC in Gaithersburg, you can take advantage of several different options to decrease your energy bill.

Install a Smart Thermostat

Smart home technology is gaining in the HVAC market pretty quickly. The new technology includes everything from smart refrigerators, mirrors, and, of course, thermostats. Your Gaithersburg HVAC system could greatly benefit from a smart thermostat.

These thermostats can be programmed to automatically increase or decrease the temperature in specific rooms of the house as needed. For example, if you move from the kitchen to the living room, the thermostat will use motion sensors to sense where you are in the house and decrease the AC in the kitchen while simultaneously increasing it in the living room. HVAC systems in Gaithersburg tend to be large to accommodate the moderate to large homes in the area. By only heating or cooling the rooms in use, you can save a lot of money on your energy bill. Now you don’t have to cool the whole house just for the one room you’re using.

Smart thermostats can also be accessed remotely. Have you ever left the house to go on a long vacation, only to remember that you forgot to shut off your air conditioning before leaving? With a smart thermostat, you can remotely lower the temperature to increase your Gaithersburg HVAC system’s efficiency while you’re away.

Take Advantage of Ceiling Fans

There are other methods to cooling your home than just relying on the energy-intensive air central air conditioning system. While a ceiling fan won’t have the same effect as an air conditioning unit, they can create a wind-chill effect which cools you off. If you have ceiling fans, it’s a good idea to set them to spin counter-clockwise in the summer. This moves the air straight down towards you.

Alternatively, when you want to increase the efficiency of your HVAC Gaithersburg system in the winter, switch your ceiling to rotate clockwise. This moves the lower cooler air up towards the ceiling, forcing the warm air that rests near the ceiling to move down towards you.

If your home doesn’t have ceiling fans, try installing window fans or clip-on fans that can be set up to your personal preferences. Just remember that running fans use energy. So, while you can lower your thermostat when you have a fan going, you don’t want to leave them running all summer long. Turn them off when you leave the house and when you go on vacation.

Sign Up for Regular HVAC Maintenance

Too often we service a Gaithersburg HVAC system only to find clogged air filters and rusty joints. When your air filter is clogged, the engine of your HVAC system needs to spend more energy to move the air through your home. Rusty or ill-taken care of equipment slows down your HVAC’s operating efficiency and can even put you at risk for a big repair bill.

Regular HVAC maintenance for your Gaithersburg home offers you a twice-a-year service checkup that ensures your air filters aren’t clogged and your HVAC system is running smoothly. Because each service happens in the Spring and Fall, we can use those checkups to optimize your system for the upcoming season and offer you some tips to increase your efficiency. Are your fans spinning the right way? Doors sealed? Debris cleared away from the outdoor equipment?

Seal Doors and Windows

Most Gaithersburg homeowners don’t realize it, but if your doors and windows aren’t sealed properly, money is flying right out through small cracks every time you use your HVAC system. Some are more complicated than others, but you should choose the type that’s right for you. Weatherstripping can be bought from your local home improvement store and is used to block the drafts around doors that may not close as tightly as you’d like them too.

Another easy option includes window film. Window film is clear sheeting that is sealed around the edge of your windows when the heat is applied. Window film is easy to put on and prevents drafts from sucking the warm or cool air out of your house. Insulated curtain act similarly to window film, but they also prevent light from coming into your home. These thick heavy curtains can prevent heat loss by blocking drafts and prevents the sun from heating up your living room.

Make Sure Your Duct System is the Right Size

Many homeowners may not realize that your duct system is similar to your circulation system. But instead of pumping blood, it pumps warm or cool air throughout your home. In order for your Gaithersburg HVAC system to work efficiently, it needs to be correctly proportioned to your home.

Think of your furnace as the heart of your home. It’s the engine that pumps warm air throughout the building. Just like with your veins, the further away from the heart that you get, the harder it is to reach. To accommodate this, the ductwork gets smaller in diameter in order to speed up the air and maintain enough speed to reach all the rooms in your house.

If your ductwork isn’t appropriately sized, your engine has to work harder to move the air throughout the home. Rod Miller believes in providing our customers with the right equipment and maintenance to increase their home’s efficiency. When you need your Gaithersburg HVAC system serviced, we’re right down the street. Reach out to us today if you want more information on what we can offer your HVAC system.